


On my own in the wilderness (Please don't leave me again)

by ScorpionMauve



Series: The beast in me (It's falling for you) [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alpaca Hybrid Seungmin, Alternate Universe - Hybrids, Bat Hybrid Changbin, Blackbuck Hybrid Hyunjin, Bruises, Crying, Deer Hybrid Felix, Hurt/Comfort, Lynx Hybrid Minho, Panther Hybrid Chan, Sick Character, Squirrel Hybrid Jisung, Swearing, White Fox Hybrid Jeongin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-28 13:23:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21137408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScorpionMauve/pseuds/ScorpionMauve
Summary: Hyunjin was such a graceful being, seeing him so pitiful made Jeongin's heart tighten painfully.





	On my own in the wilderness (Please don't leave me again)

When meeting Hyunjin, there would be three things that you notice, without exchanging one word.

The first one was his stunning beauty, residing in his thin features, gentle eyes, plush lips, soft hair, tall body, lithe frame, glowing skin, little moles. 

The second one would be the gracious way he carried himself, elegant, whimsical. When he walked, moved around, danced, it looked entrancing, like petals floating in the air, carried by the wind.

Finally, the third thing you would notice are the long, twisty horns coming out of the top of his head. They flew up, straight to the sky, as long as the forearm, glinting of gold in the sunlight. 

Today, however, was a very different day. His usual graceful stance couldn’t be seen, instead, he staggered around. He had been feeling off for the whole day. It started with feeling dizzy and exhausted when he first stood up, to getting paler and paler by the hour. 

None of the members really seemed to have noticed as they all had different schedules in the day. The blackbuck hybrid had been with Changbin, a few hours earlier, for a magazine photoshoot, but they were together for barely an hour. Afterwards, he had gone to vocal lessons for hours and ended up dismissed before the end. 

Currently, he was disobeying the teacher who had advised him to go and rest. He stood in an empty practice room, dancing his heart out. His chest expanded and shrunk rapidly as his breathing became more and more laboured. 

His mind looped continuously in a vicious circle. He felt exhausted, so his dance didn’t look nor feel as precise and sharp as usual. His moves weren’t what they usually were so he worked harder. He gave more energy so he grew more and more tired.

Sweat glued his dark brown hair to his forehead, making it appear black. His legs threatened to give out under him. Black and white spots danced before his eyes. The loud music pulsing out of the speakers made his head feel like it would explode.

He had to do this.

He couldn’t fail.

The door opened with a squeak that wasn’t heard over the sound. The newcomer’s bright red hair contrasted with the pristine white ears pointing to the sky. He smiled when he noticed his friend in the room but his tail dropped when he noticed his state.

“Hyung, let’s go home.”

Hyunjin shook his head, wincing at how it made his head pound.

“No, I… I have to, I need to perfect this.”

Jeongin frowned, eyes swimming with worry.

“You’re exhausted. God knows how long you’ve been in here.”

Hyunjin’s eyes turned to him but they couldn’t focus on his younger friend. His tail twitched as they rolled back. Before Jeongin could even take a step forward, he had collapsed on the floor.

The young fox rushed to his side, cradling his head in his lap. He took out his phone and called the first person he could think of.

“Hyung, Hyunjin just passed out, he’s burning up, I don’t know what to do, help me, please, I can’t-”

He burst out in heavy tears, sobs racking through his body as he held Hyunjin’s sweat soaked shirt tightly.

“Shhh, calm down, just tell me where you are.”

Jeongin took a deep shaky breath, trying to steady himself.

“Practice room 3.”

“I’m on my way, hang on. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

True to his words, only a bit later, Felix burst into the room, closely followed by Changbin and their leader. The latter stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he passed the door frame, sniffing the air.

“That’s a… Fuck, okay, we have to go back to the dorm. Manager’s down with the van ready.”

The short bat hybrid carefully took the unconscious boy from Jeongin, whose breathing picked up. Felix held his hand, leading him out while murmuring soft words. They went down to the vehicle in which the antsy older man waited. 

Hyunjin was installed in the front seat, with the other horned male, Felix. The youngest sat -more like curled up- in the back, between the two oldest. They held him gently, trying to calm him down. Hyperventilating, his hands gripped their shirts tightly.

“Innie, he’s gonna be alright, okay ? He’s okay.”

Jeongin couldn’t hear him.

“Collapsed, he collapsed, I couldn’t do anything-”

He rambled endlessly, unable to think properly. Chan pulled him in his lap, laid him down so they were chest to chest.

“Listen to my heartbeat, not anything else. Focus on my scent.”

He buried his head on the elder’s neck, ears coming to tickle his cheeks. He breathed in deeply, before exhaling shakily. Hands came to rest on his back, caressing softly. Slowly, he started relaxing, Chan’s scent was always so calming. His head started to loll around as he fell into slumber.

When Jeongin emerged from sleep, a few hours had passed. He looked around, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, and noticed a figure on the other bed. He was laying in his own, covers pulled up to his chin. He called out tentatively.

“Hyung ?”

A fluffy copper tail perked up as well as Jisung’s head. Noticing the fox’s awake state, he stood up and came to sit on his bed.

“Hey, sweetheart. How do you feel ? You had quite the emotional rollercoaster earlier.”

His eyes widened as he remembered how he came to be in here. He shot up, almost hitting Jisung in the process.

“Hyung, how is he ? Where is he ? I have to see him.”

Jeongin grabbed Jisung’s shirt, looking up with distress.

“He’s alright, but you can’t see him. Chan-hyung is taking care of him right now. He’s quarantined.”

The white tail puffed up, flicking around sharply.

“You said he was alright ! How come he’s quarantined ?!”

His voice went shrill with worry.

“Well… I don’t know what he has, the older ones seem to. They can approach him but not us because we could catch whatever it is.”

Jeongin’s throat tightened.

“I have t-”

He pushed up to get out of the bed but was stopped by a hand pressing on his shoulder.

“We’re stuck in here, Minnie and Lix are in the four-bed bedroom. I tried to sneak out already and trust me, it wasn’t fun. Minho and Bin are guarding the living room and hallway.”

Jeongin slumped back down on the bed, shoulders falling.

“Can’t I just see him ? I can’t get sick from a video call, can I ?”

A soft bump against the door got their attention.

“I’m sorry, Innie, but I’m afraid that’s not a good idea either.”

The youngest jumped out of the bed, kneeling by the door, closer to Changbin’s voice.

“Why not ?”

His ears went down, tail flopping limply against the floor, picking up the stray dust. The hurt in his voice was heart wrenching.

“It’ll only be more painful if you see it. I’m really sorry.”

Jeongin’s face fell.

“No, you’re not !”

Changbin’s voice came again, strained.

“Please don’t scream, but yes, I am.”

Jeongin felt slightly bad for hurting Changbin and, as he had fallen silent, Jisung spoke up.

“Wait, hyung, can we go with Lixie and Minnie ? Maybe that’ll make him feel better.”

The bat hybrid seemed to move away from the door, exchanging a few words they couldn’t understand with someone. Footsteps came back and the handle was pushed down. Jisung pulled Jeongin away slightly by putting his hands under his shoulders.

“Don’t stay in front of the door, baby. There, he can open it.”

Changbin came into view, big pointy hollow ears twitching. He extended a hand towards the younger boys.

“Come on. I know you want to see him but it’s impossible.”

He looked genuinely sorry, which made Jeongin feel even guiltier.

“’M sorry for screaming, hyung.”

The fox mumbled as he took the hand softly. He pulled himself up, followed by the squirrel hybrid.

“It’s alright, Innie. It’ll stop echoing in a bit.”

He led the boys in the living room, where they saw Minho standing in front of Changbin and Felix’s room. His short tail swayed back and forth, fluffy ears swivelling around as he listened.

“Hey kids. Glad to see you awake, foxie.”

The other hybrid dragged them to the last bedroom, pushing them in gently but firmly.

“Wait ! When will we be allowed to get out of here ?”

Changbin grabbed the handle, trying to look away from Jeongin’s eyes.

“When it ends. We don’t know how long that’ll take. Sorry.”

He closed the door, leaving the four youngest together. Felix and Seungmin were curled up on two separate beds, scrolling through their phones absentmindedly. Jeongin flopped down on the nearest one, which happened to be where Seungmin rested. He took a hold of his calf and hugged it to his chest.

“Oh, baby, what are you doing ?”

Fat ugly sobs started racking through his body, shaking it hard. The two other boys gathered around him while the encaptured one pulled him up higher. He kept mumbling small words they could barely hear, let alone understand. The alpaca hybrid leaned closer to his wet face.

“Minnie, what is he saying ?”

Seungmin’s heart tightened as he listened to Jeongin.

“I can hear him in pain, he’s whimpering, I can’t do this, it’s so loud.”

He cried harder, tremors shaking his whole form. He was instantly pulled closer to the other’s chest and the squirrel and deer wrapping their arms around him. They whispered reassuring words softly, focusing on drowning out the sound of Hyunjin’s pain. 

At some point, a pair of headphones slipped over his human ears, lessening the sound by half. He was pulled up into someone’s arms, the other two maneuvering around the room for a few minutes. The fox was laid back down on a soft mattress, in the middle of three bodies. Both his arms and legs tangled with someone else’s and another pulled his head to a strong chest. 

The four boys nodded off, just basking in each other’s warmth and love for an undetermined period of time. However, after a while, the squirrel hybrid popped up.

“Guys, let’s do something, I don’t want to sleep again.”

Seungmin sat up, hair sticking up in every direction.

“Like what ?”

Jisung flailed around wildly.

“I don’t know, anything ! Games, a movie, even just counting the number of socks under Minho’s bed, I don’t know.”

“17.”

Felix’s mumbled voice was barely heard.

“What ?”

It came again, a bit louder

“17 socks. None of which match.”

Jeongin frowned in confusion.

“How-”

Seungmin sighed deeply as he nuzzled his cheek against the fur of Jeongin’s ear.

“Yeah, we’ve been stuck in here for a while.”

Jisung stood up, his tail caressing Jeongin’s face on the way, and started bouncing. He let out a groan, eyes roaming out the window. 

“We can watch a movie, sit your ass down.”

He flopped down next to the alpaca, laying his head in his lap. 

“I’m seated.”

It took a while for them to choose which movie they wanted to watch, but ultimately decided to let Jeongin pick. His choice fell on Bolt, so Felix turned it on, laptop settled in front of them, and curled up against the youngest. His horns poked his neck, but it didn’t bother him. 

Contrarily to Hyunjin’s own gigantic horns, the australian’s were tiny, barely peeking out. The short, light-colored stubs could only be felt while running your hand through his hair, which is exactly what Jeongin started doing. He hummed softly at the pleasuring sensation.

The movie started off peacefully, but Jisung and Felix kept talking all the way through. The alpaca shushed them many times but it never stopped. At one point, the fox stopped caressing Felix’s hair, who whined.

“You’re all sweaty, hyung, stop rubbing your face on meee.”

The deer slid down reluctantly, curling up in a ball by Jeongin’s thighs. As the rhythm of the movie picked up, he stopped talking, Jisung now speaking with no one answering. A bit more time passed, the film nearing its climax, before a knock resounded. Seungmin paused the movie.

“Yeah ?”

He called out.

“Are you guys hungry ? I have food.”

Minho’s soft voice reached them through the door. He opened it after receiving approbative noises, carrying a tray with different dishes. He set it down next to Jisung carefully. 

“I’m sorry you have to stay in here, kids. How are you all holding up ?”

Seungmin hummed softly.

“It’s okay, we’re kinda bored and Jisung and Felix are loud, but that’s just like usual.”

“Well, right now, Lix is asleep.”

Jeongin supplied as he caressed the boy’s back gently, only to touch his drenched shirt.

“What the… Oh no, nonono.”

He leaned forward to listen to his breathing, which was ragged and fast.

“Fuck no, not again.”

Jeongin felt his heart stop.

“Innie ?”

Seungmin asked, concern etched in his voice.

“Hyung, he’s passed out, it’s the same thing, hyung, why-”

He felt heavy tears rise to his eyes as the lynx jumped forward to check on the unconscious boy. He called Changbin, who was already at the door. He gathered the three other ones away from Felix, wrapping his arms around them as well as he could.

“Hyung, what is this ? What’s happening to them ?”

Changbin shook his head.

“I can’t t-”

“Tell me !”

The fox cut him off with a shout, making the older jolt in surprise. 

“I…”

Minho moved between the two of them.

“Bin, put Lix with Hyunjin and take care of him, I’ll look over the kids. Try to get Chan to go to another room to sleep.” 

The shivering bat hybrid left the younger’s side, instead picking up the limp Felix and carrying him out. Minho closed the door and opened the window before coming back to the three teens.

“Okay, I’ll tell you what’s going on but sit your asses down and eat the food.”

The youngsters plopped down on the floor, Jeongin between the other two. They started picking bites half-heartedly, the event having destroyed their appetite. The eldest settled in front of them, knees pulled to his chest. His head rested on them as his tail tried to curl protectively around himself, flicking every so often. He took a deep breath in.

“I’ll be straightforward with this. What Hyunjin is going through is sort of a coming of age sickness. It happens to every hybrid that becomes an adult. You probably witnessed Changbin go through it, that time he was ill around the time of his birthday. It lasts from a couple days to a week usually and it’s not fun. It’s like your body tries to assemble itself and become functional in that time. It hurts a lot.”

The boys listened religiously, remembering what had happened to Changbin less than a year ago. Tremors shook the youngest’s body, who had to put down his chopsticks to not drop them. Seungmin took his hands softly, drawing circles into them with his thumb. Jisung’s tail wrapped around the boy’s waist as a way to ground and comfort him.

“What Felix has and what we’re trying to keep you from is slightly different. That’s a side illness that is caught if you’re in contact with someone coming of age. It’s basically the same thing except for one symptom. It is also contagious, though. I hope you didn’t catch it too but at this point, that’s practically impossible.”

He laid back against the bed frame, closing his eyes. He ran a hand through his hair, messing it up. They hadn’t noticed his face before because they were stressed and confused about the situation. Next to the black markings of his eyes laid deep eyebags that dug into his skin. His head slumped to the side, tiredness overtaking him.

“How long have you been awake for ?”

His ears twitched as he let out a soft hum. Jisung asked again and obtained the same response. He called out Minho’s name, at which the lynx’s eyes opened sleepily.

“Oh, you were talking to me ? I thought it was meant for Min…”

He yawned longly, tail dropping to the floor with a quiet thump. He stretched his arms and curled them around himself. The squirrel hybrid crawled to his side, shaking him slightly. A hand grabbed him and pulled him closer against his chest.

“Okay, hyung, sleep. I’ll be right here.”

Jeongin’s breathing hitched at the sight, he stuttered out :

“Is… Is it the thing ?”

Jisung shook his head.

“I don’t think so, he just looks exhausted.”

“34 hours, Ji…”

The squirrel gasped at the soft voice, his tail wrapping around the older to bring him close.

“You better sleep right now or I’ll kick your ass.”

Minho whined quietly.

“Have to look over you.”

Jisung pushed him to lay down.

“No, you have to sleep.”

Minho tried to stay awake but his strength faded out quickly. It barely took a couple minutes before he slumped down, out cold.

“Well this is a mess, isn’t it ?”

Jisung asked, looking up at the other two hybrids with him. Seungmin nodded as he turned the laptop so the squirrel could see from his position.

“Let’s just finish the movie…”

* * *

In the end, the three younger all fell prey to the illness. They spent a few days shivering and shaking, all cuddled up to each other on two beds pushed against one another. The blackbuck was kept separated from them for the first couple days but ended up joining the puppy pile. 

Jeongin had felt ecstatic when he had seen the older come in but instantly worried when he noticed his limping. Was he that weakened by the sickness ? It’s only later, when they laid chest to chest, that he noticed the bruises littered on the older’s chest. Oh. That was why he hadn’t been allowed to see him.

He pulled Hyunjin closer and the other young hybrids pressed up against the both of them. The four oldest looked from behind the door frame, smiling softly at the cuteness of their boys. A quiet shriek came out of the lynx when the older feline picked him up unexpectedly.

“Chan-hyung, what the hell ?”

He wrapped his arms around the panther’s neck to not fall.

“I heard from a little… rodent that you were forgetting your health so we’re going to nap.”

He whined quietly but let himself be carried to another room by the leader. Changbin had decided to settle on the couch of the living room, watching a drama that could barely be heard from the bedrooms.

Sure, Jeongin felt nauseous and sweaty, but it was so good to be nestled in the middle of his members. They didn’t care about being gross because all of them were. Face to face with Hyunjin, Seungmin’s torso flattening himself against his back, he could feel Jisung’s tail wrapping around them and Felix’s arm resting on his waist.

Despite being sick, they always made him feel good. It was nice, so nice to take some time to rest and just enjoy being with each other. He sighed happily and pushing his nose into the blackbuck hybrid’s shoulder, breathing in his sweet scent, pressing kisses against the fading red spots on his collarbones. The older whined at the uncomfortable feeling, trying to scoot away, only to get stopped by the small deer hybrid. 

Well, Jeongin was definitely excited for his own coming of age, given that all of his hyungs would be able to help.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you thought. I love Hybrid-SKZ, maybe I'll do another work in this universe. I have no plot idea, though, so we'll see...  
~  
Twitter : @lacyjunnie


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